Engineer Didn’t Prove That PLAs Save Money

Earlier this month, the Ogdensburg City Council voted unanimously to support a project labor agreement for the new wastewater treatment plant. Members point to a potential savings of $900,000 as justification. The key word everyone should understand is potential.

The PLA study, which cost Ogdensburg taxpayers $21,000, purports that with a series of false savings, labor consolidation and “management rights,” the project will save money. Yet no one challenged the study’s creator, Tim Seeler of Seeler Engineering, to positively prove those savings will be achieved. They also never asked him about the negative impact the lack of competition will have on the bidding process. They simply rubber-stamped the study and closed the door on local contractors and their employees.

Our association fights for the rights of merit shop, non-union, contractors and their employees. We also fight for the taxpayers who get fleeced every time a PLA is put in play. Our opponents, those who endorse PLAs, say we’re wrong and our studies are flawed. If that’s the case, then let’s put the cards on the table.

The city of Ogdensburg should immediately allow any and all contractors to bid the project with or without the PLA. That will allow everyone, especially the taxpayers, to see if the PLA really does save money. Of course, the city won’t allow that to happen. That doesn’t work for them politically.

Perhaps instead they’d take some of that $900,000 and do a post-PLA study by someone other than Seeler Engineering. Let an outside firm investigate the labor cost calculations to see if, indeed, the alleged savings were realized. After all, isn’t the role of an elected body to be good stewards of the taxpayers money? Let’s see whom the City Council really cares about the most: their constituents or the influential politician who forced them to adopt the PLA.

Let’s not be fooled. Proponents of the expansion of prevailing wage are already doing great damage to taxpayers. They shouldn’t be allowed to ruin what little positive job growth we now have in New York.

“What’s clear is that some contractors will have to deal with cost overruns that they can’t pass on to their customers,” said Brian Sampson, president of the Associated Builders & Contractors of New York.
“But in most cases, the increased cost of the tariffs will be passed on to customers resulting in more expensive construction projects or higher costs for capital goods.”

The first class to complete the intensive 10-week, 40-hour construction training course offered by Jefferson Community College was celebrated at a recognition ceremony Friday at the Lewis County JCC Education Center.

The PLA study, which cost Ogdensburg taxpayers $21,000, purports that with a series of false savings, labor consolidation and “management rights,” the project will save money. Yet no one challenged the study’s creator, Tim Seeler of Seeler Engineering, to positively prove those savings will be achieved. They also never asked him about the negative impact the lack of competition will have on the bidding process. They simply rubber-stamped the study and closed the door on local contractors and their employees.

A PLA is a pre-hire agreement requiring the workforce comes from local union hiring halls. However, unions only account for 21 percent of the construction workforce across New York, with that number being even smaller in the Lake George area. PLAs effectively bar the majority of local contractors and their workers from bidding and winning work that their own tax dollars fund. PLAs do nothing more than eliminate competition for unions, ensuring their contractors win work, and decrease the number of bids on a project, driving taxpayer expenses.